Official Art Blog of Artist Elaine Weiner-Reed (EWR). Thoughts about art and the creative process, ideas to consider, and musings on life and how it connects to this artist's thought and work processes. See also her official Collaboration Initiative: http://ewr-everypaintingisasong.blogspot.com/

Saturday, March 10, 2018

The Seeds We Sow

We
cannot anticipate or ever know how far the seeds we sow in our lifetime will
travel.

Artist
Elaine Weiner-Reed reflects that she is always pleasantly surprised when
someone contacts her to let her know that she, her words, or her art has
touched their lives. Such contacts are always welcome, no matter how rarely or frequently
they might come her way…

Continue
reading to find out how one seemingly small art experience led to Elaine’s inclusion
in a global library of sketchbooks…

The Sketchbook Project

The
Sketchbook Project: An Overview

In 2013-2014, I participated in the
Sketchbook Project’s
2014 Call. My sketchbook creation, officially
known as “Raw Edges Soliloquy,” Sketchbook #S121055, is filled with small
watercolors and collages. Mine and all the other sketchbooks submitted that
year and every year since then have become part of a larger, global collection.
All are housed in a unique library in
Brooklyn, New York.

One of a kind, the Brooklyn Art Library
is home to The Sketchbook Project
collection in its physical form. The Library’s walls are lined with shelves
that hold the tens of thousands of collected sketchbooks created by artists
from around the world. As with any good library, the Brooklyn Art Library
offers a hands-on reading room. In this unique Library, its welcome guests can
spend an afternoon enjoying artwork from artists of all genres and ages. Imagine
the treasures contained within each one-of-a-kind sketchbook!

Founders and Funding: Who, What, When, and Where

The Founders’ flagship endeavor, The Sketchbook
Project, is a crowd-sourced library that
houses 36,360 sketchbooks, each created by one unique artist coming from over
135 countries. Brooklyn
Art Library is located on 28 Frost Street in
the heart of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY.Essentially, it is a one-of-a-kind curated exhibition space. The
Sketchbook Project began in 2006 in Atlanta, GA and moved to New York City in
2009. Since 2009, this small organization has grown into a worldwide community
of many projects: To date, if you include all the other projects and challenges
under the umbrella of The Sketchbook Project, over 162,081 creative people
have shared their talents by participating in one project or another. According
to its Founders, by focusing on the intersection of hands-on art making and new
technology, The Sketchbook Project nurtures community-supported art projects
that harness the power of the virtual world to share inspiration in the real
world. And they are doing just that!

Back in 2013, I learned about TheSketchbook Project
from an artist friend. She indicated that she also planned to participate in
the initiative. I remember thinking “how
cool” the idea was and becoming a part of it appealed to me. So, I hopped
online, registered, and ordered my blank sketchbook – which I received about a
week later. Reality hit when it came in the mail, and I remember feeling somewhat
daunted as I looked at the blank sketchbook of some 20 pages or more. As I held
it, I panicked, wondering what had possessed me to agree to do it! At that
point in time, I was working full-time in a stressful career, while also
working full-time on my Art. A single parent, as well, my son was in college. I
was very busy, as I also had several big art shows scheduled, paintings to plan
or complete, press and other paperwork to tackle, and of course, that was on
top of life’s usual must-do things
like chores, laundry, shopping, etc. I mention all that so you can better
understand my feeling of being overwhelmed... Perhaps you can relate?

Elaine Weiner-Reed - Labyrinths of the Unconscious Mind I

My
Approach: Slow and Steady Wins the Race

Another thing I should mention: By the time I committed to
participating in the Project, I had only left myself a few weeks to complete and
mail in my completed sketchbook. Panic descended like an avalanche, almost
preventing me from even starting on it.

Luckily, I remembered something…a time management technique I
had learned in a leadership class several years before called the “Swiss cheese approach”
to breaking down and completing tasks. My panic was soon replaced by determination,
and I was able to breathe again. I knew that what I had to do was break up the
big Project into a series of small tasks – essentially methodically punching holes in it and slowly moving
forward. I resolved to do one small thing, then another, and so on, until my
Sketchbook was completed.

I felt better, so much so that I had a brainstorm that helped me conceptualize the sketchbook as a themed
“show” – each page would be a part of the whole, connected, yet unique. I
counted the pages and figured out how much time I had for each creation. “Raw
Edges Soliloquy” was a theme related to my jazz-inspired abstract paintings on
unstretched canvas. It was broad enough to allow for creativity, tying in with
current works on canvas, as well as my watermedia painting series from previous
years. I had my direction, cleared off a table in my studio, and set about
finding and choosing materials I would need to begin creating.

Enter, Inspiration: My Bin of “Saved” Watermedia Bits
and Pieces

Between 1999 and 2015, I was creating works-on-paper in my
“New Directions” painting series. Many people do not know this, but throughout
that time frame, I would destroy or cut up paintings that I might have liked, but did not love. The
fruits of that aperiodic purging were contained in a plastic bin. In it, I
retained sections or portions of paintings that were good and continued to excite.
I had thought perhaps I could use them in future collages. The time had come! Once
I had decided on my Sketchbook theme of “Raw Edges Soliloquy” and determined my
plan of action, I headed straight to that bin of salvaged sections of
watercolor and acrylic paintings. Those watermedia “keepers” ranged in size
from 2” x 2” to 4” x 6,” and a selection of those keepers became my starting point for the pages in my Sketchbook. I was
off and running and was able to keep to my schedule: I completed the Sketchbook
and met the deadline. Whew…

Elaine Weiner-Reed - Cliffside I

A Legacy

Mailing it in, I felt like I had really accomplished
something – something beyond the ordinary, something beyond my small universe
or lifetime. A legacy of creativity
that would take on a life of its own and keep on giving. With so many
sketchbooks to choose from, each Artist never knows when or if someone will see
our work, but I can tell you that it is always a thrill when someone does view it. Over the years, I have
received at least half a dozen notices from The Sketchbook Project facilitators
whenever my sketchbook was checked out and examined. About a month ago, I
received the latest email notice when someone in New York named “Teagan” viewed
my Sketchbook (#S121055). I smiled, contentedly knowing the global creativity
wave will continue to grow. It was that email that prompted me to write this
article and share the opportunity with others in the hope that The Sketchbook
Project will continue to grow and thrive!

The
Sketchbook Library Meets The Digital Age

The Sketchbook Project and Library staff are always working
to keep the creative wave growing and moving into the next generation and
beyond any physical boundaries or borders. For example, if you cannot visit the
Library in person, guests are now able to take a virtual YouTube tour of The Brooklyn
Library.

But it gets even better…
The Library now has a Digital Library
– that continues to expand. To help people more easily browse this large
digital/online Library, the staff organized some number of sketchbooks, grouping
or cataloguing them into by-theme “Collections” such as Trees, Nature, etc. Consequently,
to allow for broader global access of my Sketchbook, I recently went online and
allotted the small amount of money to enable the Library digitize my
sketchbook for inclusion in The Sketchbook Project’s Digital Library. As
you can imagine, the Brooklyn Art Library could not hope to self-fund the
digitization of tens of thousands of sketchbooks. Therefore, hopefully each
contributing artist can do their part, and perhaps donations from other Patrons
of the Arts will help with the rest over time.

Elaine Weiner-Reed - Freedom Ride: Fireworks!

Prior
to The Digital Age: The Mobile Tour

I feel very fortunate that my Sketchbook was included in the
Brooklyn Art Library’s 2014 mobile tour of over 30 cities in the U.S. and
Canada. (The mobile tour schedule follows.)
I know that my sketchbook was viewed by at least one person in Toronto,
California, and in four other cities throughout the Mobile Tour. It always
brings a smile to my face to know that a stranger has looked at my
sketchbook…and I find myself hoping that my work will intrigue or inspire them
to create.

Following was the schedule I and all the participating
artists received for The Sketchbook Project’s 2014 Mobile Tour. As the Library
Bus roamed from destination to destination, across the U.S. and Canada, we
received updates and news of its progress. What a great idea and what planning
it must have taken to make it happen!

I was excited when The Sketchbook Project
emailed me, announcing that new stops have been added to The 2014 Tour, and your
sketchbook (mine! Sketchbook: #S121055
by Elaine Weiner-Reed) was going along for the ride! “Your sketchbook
will now be viewed by visitors to our Mobile Library in the following cities:

So, what happened to my artist friend who had first mentioned
The Sketchbook Project to me? In early 2015, I was surprised to learn that she
had not ended up completing or submitting
a sketchbook. She confided to me that she had been too busy. “But, aren’t we all?”
I remember thinking. In hindsight, I am very glad to have participated in such
a worthwhile global creativity project. My Sketchbook, as I recall, is a rather
simple affair of mini watercolors, acrylics, and collages. And while I can only
imagine there are much more exciting and ornate sketchbooks in the Library, I know
I did my best.

Sketchbooks have always been a part of my creative life, so
I am especially pleased to think that my Sketchbook (#S121055)
stays alive and on exhibit--long after all my other art exhibitions have
closed. These special Sketchbooks become “Art that keeps on giving,” touching
the lives of an unknown number of art lovers, students, and artists throughout
the world now and in the future. Once the digitization of the latest batch of
older sketchbooks (including mine) is completed sometime in the Summer of 2018,
people all over the world should be able to find my sketchbook online. The
thought makes me smile…

Remember… there is
always next year for those of you interested in joining the sketchbook
creativity movement. The Sketchbook Project has an annual call, so the
opportunity is always open. If you miss one year, you can plan to enter the
following year! Although The Sketchbook Project 2018 open call has closed, there are other open
challenges and projects if you are looking for
a creative and global project yourself. As one example, on 7 February 2018, the
official launch of The Canvas Project
was announced. Described as a crowd-sourced project of mini canvases painted by
artists from all over the globe, with a culmination in what they call a “visual
encyclopedia.” I was sorry to have missed that opportunity, but I look
forward to seeing the end result and cannot wait to see what will be their next
new creative challenge…

Let
me know if you take the plunge yourself and create a Sketchbook or if you visit
the Brooklyn Art Library – physically or digitally! And should you happen to
take a real or virtual tour, I invite you to check out my Sketchbook and let me
know what you think.